One recruiter's humble attempt to help companies and people rethink the way they recruit and/or look for a job!
As a reminder - **This is my personal blog. The views expressed on these pages are mine alone and not those of my employer.**
The cool mornings have reminded me that the summer is pretty much over...as such, there are tons of interns heading back to school. Work is done, experience is gained and it’s time to polish off that education. I thought I’d share a few tips/thoughts for students who are hoping to keep their connections fresh:
1) Fire up the LinkedIn - Before you get back to school and lose focus on the summer....send out LinkedIn connections to your summer team. Former colleagues, mentors, managers and even former interns you worked with. Starting your network now, will ensure it’s value later. Trust me.
2) Keep in touch - While you are back on campus, you want to periodically keep in touch with folks from your summer. Swing by for a coffee. Make a random phone call or email. You want to keep in touch and make sure that when your former team things “we should hire someone to do X”....they think of you.
3) Update your resume - That’s right, do it..do it now! You want to update your resume while it’s still fresh. Wait 6 months and you might not remember what you did....and besides, don’t on-campus interviews start soon?
4) Practice interviewing and find your next gig - Again ,time is of the essence. Schools are hosting companies soon and offers will be going out in weeks. Take a little time to brush up on your interviewing and find your next role. Once you find your next great gig....you can relax for a few weeks and actually enjoy your time on campus. Until then.....finding a job is job one.
Ok, that’s it for this post. I should be able to get another quick post out later this week....good luck out there, fall recruiting is picking up so things are going to get crazy.
I don’t usually talk much about negotiating but think it’s something that is worth mentioning because a lot of people struggle with it.....with that, in no order...thoughts on negotiating an offer.
1) Don’t be afraid - People are terrified to negotiate, don’t be. At the same time, don’t be stupid. Negotiating takes a very delicate touch and the trick is honesty. If you honestly need a few more bucks or something else...communicate not only what you want but why you want it.
2) Don’t negotiate just to negotiate - Seriously, if you have a good offer...take it. don’t negotiate just because you “should” or “want to have some fun”. No one likes negotiating with a jerk and if you come off as a jerk....the company might pull the offer.
3) This isn’t poker, don’t bluff - I just bought a new car (well..used...) and the dealer said to me “What do we need to do to do a deal tonight”....so I told him the number. He tried to negotiate with me...to which I told him...he asked my number, if they can’t do it fine but don’t try to negotiate this YOU asked me for MY number. The point, he was bluffing......and I called him on it. Result? I got my number.
4) Honesty wins - Honestly wins 100% of the time, no exceptions. Under no circumstances should you negotiate and lie or bend the truth to get something out of the potential employer. People don’t like to hire liars, they like to hire good honest folks and trust people to act with integrity....don’t betray the trust.
5) Wisdom of crowds - If you aren’t sure what to do or how to negotiate....ask a friend. Talking through these things really helps. Take the time to bounce ideas off someone...and thank them for helping you out.
Obviously I could probably write a book on this topic but that’s it for this post....good luck if you’re negotiating. I’m hopeful to get another post out later this week...we’ll see if I can pull it off. Could be epic.
Hope everyone has had a good week. I’ve been bombed...hence only one post but glad to have a little time to get this one out.
I was reading Time Magazine this week and there is an article on “Localnomics” which was pretty cool...but something stuck out, like REALLY stuck out. Apparently McKinsey is reporting that by 2020 the world will be short 85 million high and medium skilled workers (18M of those in “advanced” economies).
Think about that for a minute....based on current education trends the world will be short by 85 million high and medium skilled workers. Holy crap!
What does it mean for recruiters or job seekers? Well.....two things.
1) Hello job security if you are a recruiter. Companies will continue to need folks like us to dig deeper and deeper into the talent pool to find great people. Picture a fist pump here.
2) Education and skills will rule the 21st century. If you’re looking for a job you need to be doing all that you can to gain skills and become super employable over the coming years. This is no joke folks....those high and medium skill workers will be in high demand....and you know what high demand means right? High compensation.
Ok, that’s it this week....those numbers blew my mind. Wanted to share because we should all be figuring out ways to keep moving up into higher and higher skilled jobs.
Good luck and if you like my blog, I’d appreciate a little support for a charity event I’m trying to help. I’m hoping to raise $1000 for underprivileged kids....even if you can only give $5 it helps. Find more info here:
Hope everyone is having a good week, I’ve been bombed with my new gig but did want to take a few minutes to a post out that I think will make a lot of sense.
Watching the Olympics and watching Michael Phelps break every record.....um ever. I realized a bunch of his metals were from relay races...team events. What’s funny, is you don’t actually hear much about Phelps in relation to a “team”. So, I did a little research and learned about Garrett Weber-Gale. Ever hear of him? Probably not or maybe but he’s certainly not Michael Phelps.
What’s cool, he won two Gold metals in the 2008 Olympics, swimming in relay races. With out Garrett Weber-Gale....Michael Phelps might not be “Michael Phelps” today...he’d be great, no doubt but he might not be other worldly.
The point? When you are building teams you need a system and a plan. Not everyone needs to be a superstar, world record holder....you just need a few stars and a team of rock solid people to be successful.
As recruiters and staffing professionals, it’s our job to push our clients to hire well and build great teams......remember a team doesn’t need to be an All-Star team, just a group of well trained people all working hard and pulling in the same directions.
Ok, crazy busy week for me but I had this weird inspiration and wanted to share....so, hang on. As you know, I’m a History dork. I’ve got a degree in History and pretty much only read historical books....very little fiction. This weeks inspiration comes from Lord Horatio Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar.
If you aren’t familiar w/ Nelson or this battle, I’d highly recommend giving it a little study (I can even recommend a book in comments if you’d like!). The moral of the story here is that Nelson won this amazing battle due to dramatically changing normally accepted tactics....and revolutionizing the art of battle.
For me...I’m feeling like it’s about time for a whole new take on looking for a job and hiring top talent. A “Recruiting Trafalgar” if you will. Here’s what I mean:
Nelson Bucked the Trends - At the time, opposing fleets would basically sail next to each other in parallel lines and blast each other to pieces. Although this sounds manly and tough....it’s pretty dumb. Rather than take his smaller force and face certain death...Nelson rethought the problem won via innovation. If we are going to truly change the way people get hired we need to stop lining up in parallel lines and blasting away. It’s time to think outside of the box, get nimble and build innovative solutions that work for you (or your organization).
Maximizing Fire for Maximum Results - To defeat the French and Spanish fleet, Nelson took his fleet and attacked them perpendicularly...thus allowing his fleet to maximize fire and devastate the enemy. See below:
The analogy here is that if you’re looking for a job or trying to hire a bunch of folks...you HAVE to maximize fire and generate as much activity as you can. The only way to “win” the battle is to focus your attention as much as you can and develop overwhelming activity.
Hindsight is 20/20 - Ok, last point on this and it’s a good one. Hindsight is 20/20 in recruiting and history. Nelson died in the Battle of Trafalgar and became a national hero. So, if you are on the edge and pushing the boundaries of hiring/recruiting/job search you may not even know it....but, history will look back on you. Whether it’s a good new job, a great new team or amazing advice to a friend/colleague who’s looking around....it will be easy for you to see your success with the benefit of hindsight.
That’s it this week, my daughter put a copy of my favorite Nelson book in my laptop bag today and told me I’d need it for work....ironically, she was right. I’m pretty sure in 1805, Lord Horatio Nelson had no idea he’d be inspiration for a recruiting blog in 2012.
Good luck out there this week.......and keep thinking outside the box.
